kaidan's test results and Porter is 3!!!

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update with the results of Kaidan's tests. I'm a slacker :( FYI - this is a LONG post and I'm sorry :) As far as the abdominal x-ray, the GI doctor felt that Kaidan was backed up, so we did a colon cleanse this weekend. I am now treating her with a maintenance dose of Miralax to keep her cleaned out. However...it doesn't seem to have made a difference yet - tonight she was not feeling well at all. We may have to do the cleanse one more time, but we'll see how tomorrow goes. If she's not feeling better after a second cleanse and by the end of next week I am taking her back in - to a different GI - hopefully I can find one that doesn't have a 3 hour wait when you have an appointment! I think it's ridiculous that they have signs all over that if we are 15 minutes late we will have to reschedule, but they can be as late as they want! The orthopedic doctor has not called me back yet...another frustration I am working through right now. She had her MRI last Thursday, and I've had to track down the results myself and I really don't know what they mean, but I'm not liking what I think they mean. He is supposed to call me tomorrow to tell me what our next steps are - that is, if he has time after surgery. I am really disappointed in the response I'm getting from this doctor right now. I really, really hope he will call me tomorrow. Here is what the MRI report from the radiologist says: For the left ankle - Irregularity noted in the articular surface of the left talar dome, greater than on the right, with associated flattening of the talar dome, consistent with sequelae of previous avascular necrosis. ( Google has helped me to understand that this means the joint surface of her talus (the bone between your foot and leg) is irregular and it's worse than her right foot. It's also collapsed, consistent with previous AVN.) For her right ankle - Subtle residual heterogeneity of the bone marrow remains, with an undulating articular surface of the talar dome, likely secondary to remote osteonecrosis. (Google says heterogeneous means "composed of parts having dissimilar characteristics". So, I think this means that her bone marrow is messed up and the talus is also collapsed, but not as bad as the left. Undulating means "wavelike appearance", so the joint looks like a wave and is partially collapsed - but not completely.) There are other things in the report that I have googled and they are worrisome for me, but I don't know for sure what they mean, so we'll see what the doctor has to say and what our options are. Kaidan has good days and bad - the bad usually follow a day of activity, but she doesn't want to be left out of anything. We had a good talk today that she may have to sacrifice some things that she wants to do in order for her bones to heal - but it really isn't fair. It makes me mad that cancer is still taking things from her. Nate has also had some stuff going on the past couple of months. He's had a lump in his neck area that has gotten bigger and become more of a nuisance, as well as a lump between his neck and shoulder that is really causing him some discomfort. He has seen two different doctors and today he had an MRI of the two areas. We probably won't get the results until Friday. We are pretty sure that it's nothing serious, and the doctors feel the same way, but because he had the melanoma we have to be really careful. The lumps are in the neck and shoulder area, which is relatively close to his ear, where the melanoma was, so the doctors wanted to be sure they were not anything more sinister than tissue build up. I'm glad the doctors were proactive, because I would rather be safe than sorry. On a non-medical note... yes, we occasionally have events in our life that are not medically related :) ... PORTER TURNED 3!! He is growing up so fast and it's so crazy because he is our last baby. We no longer have to carry diapers with us or worry about bottles and feeding schedules. He has become such a little man. He is so stinkin' cute, which is a good thing because he has a temper! If he wasn't so cute he'd be a lot harder to deal with :) He used to be so mellow, but he's grown out of that the past few months - it makes me sad. For his birthday he wanted monster trucks, a race car, and a tiger cake. I, of course, didn't get any pictures (worst mom ever award!!) because I forgot my camera. My dad took some, so I'll have to get them from him to post. Since Porter is 3, I thought I'd put 3 things that we love about him on here, so we can remember. 1. He LOVES basketball shorts. Seriously...LOVES them!! He will not take them off. If he has to wear pants the shorts are under them, if we can convince him to do that - usually, he wears them over his pants. 2. He has the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes - with super long eyelashes that most girls would give anything for. 3. He drinks more in a day than most people do in a week! He cannot go to bed without 2 cups full of drink - otherwise we are waking up in the middle of the night for refills. Sometimes, even with 2 full cups, we have to do refills before morning. I have no idea how he wakes up dry. I'll try to get some recent pictures up soon!